


Silicon Valley Story

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, F/M, Humanstuck, Manipulation, seriously it's all over the place
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-15
Updated: 2012-12-15
Packaged: 2017-11-21 04:25:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/593429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heluh Inc. and Octate Inc. are two rival technology companies, run by Dave Strider and Aranea Serket respectively. Claims of copyright infringement and lawsuits run rampant, with both companies frantically rushing to develop new technology in a world where it rapidly evolves.</p><p>Octate and Heluh are in a stalemate, so Dirk and Aranea get their young charges Dirk and Vriska to meet, in hopes that they'll manipulate the other's views on the rivalry to be more sympathetic to the other company, and then influence their guardian's decisions.</p><p>It doesn't exactly turn out that way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silicon Valley Story

**Author's Note:**

> sorry if this is short/sucks i'm kinda pressed for time

Dirk Strider walked down the hall, heading for his brother's office at the end of it. It didn't show in his walk or body language, but he was actually slightly nervous about his brother calling him to his office. The dark wood doors leading to the room were tightly closed, when Dirk knew well enough that his brother needed as much light as he could get when working – the dark shades he wore 24-7 made working in dark rooms difficult.

Dirk's anxiousness increased when he opened the door and found the room completely dark. The brightest thing in the office was his brother's shades, which were reflecting the light coming from the rest of the room.

"Come in, kiddo," his bro began. "Do you know what bullshit Octate did now? They – FUCK I'M FALLING DOWN ALL THESE...desks." With a loud smacking sound, Dirk's brother landed on the ground.

"Dave!" Dirk exclaimed. "What the hell was that?"

"Just turn on the lights, I can't fucking see in here!" came Dave's muffled reply from the carpet.

Dirk reached to his left and flicked on the lightswitch. When the ceiling lights turne on, he found Dave lying facedown next to his desk with a paper in his hand. "Bro, what's  _that_?" Dirk asked, walking over and trying to grab the paper.

"It's the bullshit Octate tried pulling!" Instantly, Dave was on his feet, dusting his shirt off and scanning the paper. "They tried to sue us because they wanted some liscenses to patents!" he exclaimed indignantly. "And is Heluh gonna give them any of that? Hell no! The courts tossed the lawsuit out before we had to hand over any cash, but Octate still needs to stop. I tried talking to their CEO to work something out, but she talks way too much and I just want to tell her two things. One: slow the fuck down. Two: speak English, not Lawyer. Sooner or later I'm gonna have to hire Terezi as a translator."

Dirk just nodded. "Pretty much. They've been on our case lately for everything. Octate thinks that just because Heluh's making tablets, we're copying their 8pad." Compared to Dave's emotional response, Dirk sounded more detached. While Dave was the CEO of Heluh Inc. and was directly involved in these issues, Dirk was only his younger brother and mostly heard about these company woes from Dave, especially about the rivalry with Octate.

"Why do they even care so much is all I want to know!" Dave sifted through the haphazard pile of papers on his desk until he found a report comparing sales of Octate and Heluh's products. "I mean, Heluh sells tablets and phones and computers, but when people want quality stuff, they usually think of Octate, not Heluh. More people buy phones with our OS, but there's just so much 8phone hype everywhere! What are they even doing with their new 8phones besides making that shit flimsier? I mean, you drop it and they shatter like an antique crystal vase, and then some old lady runs in and yells at you but instead of an old lady, you're yelling at yourself for cracking your 8phone –"

"Dave, you're rambling again," Dirk interrupted.

Dave sighed. "Yeah, I...Listen, kiddo," he began. "Did you know Octate's CEO has a daughter around your age? Well, Miss Serket and I agreed that you guys should meet."

"Why?" Dirk asked. "I know you need someone to consort with the enemy, but I don't know enough about the inner machinations of Heluh, and I really don't think she knows that much about Octate, either."

"Dirk, I know you can manipulate the shit out of people. So, what I want you to do is meet up with her and get her to think that Heluh isn't just some company that Octate should sue for making cheap knockoff products like those guys from Hong Kong. She starts believing it, and maybe she can convince her mom to get off our asses. Get it?"

Dirk stared up at his brother's face. Dave had always looked the same since Dirk was little – same dark aviators and red hair swept to the right over his forehead. However, Dirk could almost see his brother's eyes this time, and that convinced him that Dave really needed him to do what he did best for the company. There was no way he could fuck up this assignment.

"I'll do it," Dirk replied. "What's her name and where do I meet her?"

"Her name's Vriska Serket," Dave told him. "Go to the park a couple of blocks down."

**Author's Note:**

> so it's pretty much like west side story (hence the title) except instead of gangs it's parodies of apple and google
> 
> (hella - heluh : googol - google) octate doesn't have anything to do with apple in its name, but they have 8pads and 8phones
> 
> oh dave i love writing your dialogue


End file.
